Farm gate



F. E. SPEED FARM GATE April 3, 1951 Filed March 11, 1948 IIIIIII' q,IIIIIII:

Floyd E. Speed INVENTOR.

Patented. Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'FARM GATE Floyd E.Speed, Oakfield, N. Y. Application March 11, 1948, Serial No. 14,212

7 purchased on the open market.

, I Another object of the invention is to provide a gate wherein thehinging and attaching knuckles are spaced inwardly from thetop and.bottom horizontal frame membersfinstead-of being directly at therespective corners, there being an arrangement of frame stabilizingbraces and the brace closest to the hinging knuckles being especiallyarranged so that the point of attachment at the upper end thereof issubstantially in the immediate vicinity of the location of the adjacentupper hinge knuckle, thus transferring forces and equalizing stressesand strains.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a heavy farm gate ofthe type specified wherein the hinge knuckles have bushings, the bushingin the lower hinge knuckle being relatively long and slidably mounted,whereby to permit the new gate, when purchased, to be hung on existingtypes of hinging brackets without having to remove the brackets, thisdue to the ad- Justability of the long self-accommodating bush-' ing inthe lower hinging knuckle.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from thefollowing description in the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a farm gate constructed in accordancewith the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the gate showing adjacent posts and thegate mounted for operation therebetween; and,

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional and elevational view takenon the plane of the line 33 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of thearrows.

Referring now to the drawings by distinguishing reference numerals, themain gate frame is denoted by the numeral 5 and is of elongated bottomhorizontal members 6 and I and vertical 1 Claim. (01. 3987) ing ends ofthe frame members are suitably mitered and welded or otherwise connectedsecurely together. In this type of a gate I provide reliable bracingmeans comprising vertical struts I0 and II, the latter being situatedbetween and 7 connected to the intermediate portions of the top andbottom frame members 6 and I. These struts are properly spaced inrelation to the other frame members, particularly the end frame members8 and 9 in order to equalize the distribution of forces and weight.There is a diagonal brace l2 provided, and this is situated between thestruts or braces Ill and II and connected at its opposite ends to theupper and lower frame members 6 and I. In addition, there is a seconddiagonal brace I3, and this is connected at its lower end as at I4 tothe frame member 8 and connected as at I5 to the upper end portion ofthe vertical frame member 9. It will be observed that the point ofconnection I5 with the part 9 is inwardly of the corner joint I6. Also,the upper hinge knuckle E1 is rigidly secured to the member 9 andlocated downwardly from the corner 5. The hinge knuckle 'I is providedwith a bushing I8.

Reference is had now to the lower hinge knuckle I 9, and this is shownas connected upwardly from the lower corner 20. The main feature here isthat the bushing 2| in the knuckle is elongated and in practice willperhaps be some l4 inches in length. This bushing 2| is freely slidablein the knuckle I9. Because of this adjustable hinge feature the upperstationary hinge knuckle and stationary bushing I8 may be connected withthe hinge pin 22 of the hinge bracket 23 and the bushing 2| connectedwith the hinge pin 24 of the lower hinge bracket 25 on the gate post 26.The

or transverse end members 8 and 9. The meetbushing 2| will shift andslide in the knuckle to accommodate whatever position is had by thebracket 25 on the post 26. In most cases with this gate, the purchasercan take his old gate (not shown) off and slip on this improved gate,using the same hinges, that is, the conventional L-shaped type as-seenin the drawings, for the purposes. The distance between the hingebrackets is not too important because the adjustable bushing 2|compensates for an variation. Also, the improved hinge arrangementpermits new hinge brackets or fixtures to be attached to the postwithout having to measure the distance between same too closely to fitprecisely thetypes of hinge knuckles which are on ordinary gates. Thisvariation in the distance between hinge brackets is allowed because ofthe presence of the slidable bushing in the knuckle l9.

shown, if same is needed by the farmer.

The improvements reside in spacing the knuckles l1 and I9 inwardly fromthe corners l6 and 20 of the hinging end of the gate to balance thehinged end of the gate and combining therewith a brace l3 which has itsleft-hand end l5 attached to the frame member 9 so that it coincideswith the upper hinge knuckle ll. As stated the principal novelty residesin having the bushing 2| slidable in the knuckle I9 and using a bushingwhich is sufficiently long to permit it to accommodate hinge bracketswhich are placed varying distances apart on the post.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction withthe invention as: i];- lustrated in the drawings will enable the readerto obtain a clear understanding andimpression of the alleged features ofmerit and novelty suflie cient to clarify the construction of theinvention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of parts maybe resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made fromthe invention as claimed.

The numeral 21 designates an eye carried'by the free swingable endportion of the gate and which is adapted to accommodate a guy wire, notSome farmers. use the guy wires to distribute stress to prevent gatesagging.

The letter W designates the wire covering on the gate.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A farm gate of the class described comprising a horizontally elongatedrectangular frame embodying spaced parallel upper and lower horizontal'frame members and vertical end members 4 connecting said upper and lowermembers, a pair of vertically disposed bracing struts rigidly interposedbetween the central portions of said upper and lower frame members, adiagonal brace located and secured between said upper and lower framemembers and situated in the space existing between the vertical struts,and a second diagonal brace connected at its lower end with the lowerframe member adjacent to one of said vertical bracing struts, the upperend thereof connected with the adjacent end member at a point spaceddownwardly from the adjacent upper corner of said frame, and upper andlower hinge knuckles mounted on said last named end member, one,.theupper hinge knuckle, being secured to said end member at a pointdiametrically opposite to the upper end of said second-named diagonalbrace, the remaining, the lower hinge knuckle, also secured to said endmember, being provided with a bushing, said bushing beingcomparatively'long and being freely slidablein said last-named knucklefor self-adapting connection with a fixed hinge pintle on a stationarygate sup:- porting post;

FLOYD E. SPEED- REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the 7 Eilert Apr. 25,v 1950

